Freed, Melvyn N. 1937–

PERSONAL: Born April 30, 1937, in Kansas City, MO; son of Carl (an automotive parts store manager) and Betty (a homemaker; maiden name, Wachtel) Freed; married Janet Le Triplitt (an educator), December 26, 1971; children: David A., Edward L. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of Missouri, Kansas City, B.A., 1959; Southern Illinois University, M.A., 1962, Ph.D., 1965.

ADDRESSES: Home—Hazel Crest, IL. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Macmillan Publishing Company, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Writer. Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, assistant professor of education, director of institutional research, and vice president for administration; Governors State University, University Park, IL, research associate, professor of education, and vice president for administration. South Central Region Educational Laboratory, cofounder and director of measurement and research; chief of staff to U.S. Representative William Alexander; U.S. Office of Education, grant proposal evaluator.

Abilities Unlimited Sheltered Workshop, Jonesboro, AR, president c. 1970s; Boy Scouts of America, board member and vice president, 1978–95, 2001–; United Way of Hazel Crest-East Hazel Crest, IL, board member c. early 1980s; Village of Hazel Crest, IL, plan commissioner, 1988–97, trustee, 1997–2005. Bremen High School, Midlothian, IL, president of educational foundation, 2002–04.

MEMBER: Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Delta Kappa, Kappa Delta Pi, Omnicron Delta Kappa, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Masonic Lodge (Oak Forest, IL).

AWARDS, HONORS: Top Thirty Reference Books of 1989 citation, Library Journal, for The Educator's Desk Reference: A Sourcebook of Educational Information and Research; Distinguished Service Award, Arkansas State University; U.S. Congressional Citation, 1971.

WRITINGS:

In Search of a Beginning: The Eastern Arkansas Scottish Rite Bodies, Eastern Arkansas Bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (West Memphis, AR), 1976.

(With Robert K. Hess and Joseph M. Ryan) The Educator's Desk Reference: A Sourcebook of Educational Information and Research, American Council on Education (New York, NY), 1989.

(Editor, with Robert K. Hess and Joseph M. Ryan) Handbook of Statistical Procedures and Their Computer Applications to Education and the Behavioral Sciences, American Council on Education (New York, NY), 1991.

(Editor, with Virgil P. Diodato) Business Information Desk Reference: Where to Find Answers to Business Questions, Macmillan Publishing Company (New York, NY), 1991.

(With Karen Graves) The Patient's Desk Reference: Where to Find Answers to Medical Questions, Macmillan Publishing Company (New York, NY), 1994.

Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Phi Kappa Phi Journal, School and Society, Nursing Outlook, Personnel and Guidance Journal, College and University Business, New Age, and Scottish Rite Journal. Also contributor to Institutional Research and Institutional Policy Formulation, edited by Clifford T. Stewart, Office of Institutional Research, Claremont University Center (Claremont, CA), 1971.

SIDELIGHTS: Melvyn N. Freed told CA: "One day, a former graduate student of mine who had taken my course in educational research apprised me that the most interesting and valuable part of the course was my survey of where information can be found in education and related behavioral disciplines. Her statement generated an idea: Why not write a book that would be a master guide to information in education? Ultimately, this gave birth to handbooks in education, business, and medicine that contain the 'Information Locator,' a research instrument that facilitates linking the research question to a publication, Web site, or organization where the answer is to be found. The distinguishing feature of these books is the specificity of the research questions: Where should I go to find …? The focus is on detailed facts in the respective disciplines and the responses are the titles of printed publications, Internet sites, and the names of organizations. Thus the contribution of these books is their unique approach to finding information and their unusual detail."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Statistician, November, 1993, Richard R. Carlson, review of Handbook of Statistical Procedures and Their Computer Applications to Education and the Behavioral Sciences, p. 308.

Booklist, May 1, 1994, review of The Patient's Desk Reference: Where to Find Answers to Medical Questions, p. 1636.

RQ, winter, 1991, Diane Turner, review of Business Information Desk Reference: Where to Find Answers to Business Questions, p. 254; winter, 1994, Mara Sprain, review of The Patient's Desk Reference, p. 249.